Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 31, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016
Denise notes that when she uses Track Changes and inserts a comment, the user's name shows in the comment. When she is ready to finalize the document, but with Track Changes still on, Denise wonders if she can go back and change the user name on one or more comments.
There are a couple of things you can do to make the changes. First, you could change the user name and initials to the name you want in the comments and then, effectively, recreate the comments. (You can copy the comment into the Clipboard and then paste it back into the document.) This has a downside, however, as the date and time stamp for the comment will be updated to reflect when you recreated the comment.
Perhaps a better approach is to use a macro to make the changes. When a comment is created, it is added to the Comments collection, which can be accessed through VBA. Each comment has Author and Initial properties that, respectively, represent the comment author's name and initials. The following macro is an example of how these can be changed:
Sub ChangeCommentAuthor() Dim J As Integer Dim sAuthorname As String Dim sInitial As String If Selection.Comments.Count = 0 Then MsgBox "No comments in your selection!", _ vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "Cannot perform action" Exit Sub End If sAuthorname = InputBox("New author name?", _ "Comments Author Name") If sAuthorname = "" Then End sInitial = InputBox("New author initials?", _ "Comments Initials") If sInitial = "" Then End With Selection For J = 1 To .Comments.Count .Comments(J).Author = sAuthorname .Comments(J).Initial = sInitial Next J End With End Sub
All you need to do is make a selection that contains the comment you want to modify (select the text in the main document that includes the comment indicator) and then run the macro. Enter a new name and initials when prompted. When the macro is done running, it may not appear like anything has changed. If you save your document and reload it, you'll note that the comment author names have been changed as you indicated.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8614) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing the User Name in Existing Comments.
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2023-11-17 11:39:28
Stephanie
Thanks!!! This macro worked 100% flawlessly and I never even use Macros and I was able to make it work!
2023-09-06 18:48:26
Jeremy
Many thanks.
In Word 2021 it changes instantly.
Jeremy
2021-10-07 13:33:02
David
Hello.
Is it possible to do the same with the name attached to changes made in the document with the track on ?
Instead of having each individuals name, I would like to have the same name everywhere (Team's name)
if it's possible, how ?
Thank you
2021-07-15 17:23:59
Kamran
For those of you who asked about changing the editor name for existing *edits* (as opposed to comments), here's the link to an amazing macro from a Word MVP:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-do-you-change-user-names-from-existing-track/b5ce17da-f763-4ca6-9f1c-47aff56b7c38
2021-06-15 16:33:27
Steve
Thanks! However, whenever I run this, the author name changes appropriately, but the Initials only change to the first letter of the new author name, despite the fact that the Initial property in VBA changes to the new value when assigned. When I close and reopen, the .Comment(I).Initial property for each comment will have the new value that the macro set previously, but the first letter of the author name is still what's displayed. Any thoughts? (This is Office 365.) Thanks again.
2020-07-16 05:41:42
Alan
Thank you so much for this - it's been a lifesaver
2018-11-12 01:31:43
Andrew
Awesome, thank you!!!
Would be great for an update to this macro that also changes the author for Additions/deletions, formating changes, ink etc.!
2018-08-21 15:23:23
Christine
This worked great! However, is there anyway to make it ask which author name to change? This would be helpful when there are multiple comments from different people, and you just need to change the one author all at once. We did it individually for each comment, which worked out - but in the future to be able to change all "AB" comments to "CD" at once would be great.
Thanks.
2018-04-24 16:10:50
Deborah
Thank you. This has been extremely useful for us in preparing documents for sharing with our clients.
Is there a way to change authorship for specific set of contributors, but leave "client" comments as is?
2018-01-25 19:03:08
Scott A
That was enormously helpful. Thank you for developing that and sharing it.
2018-01-09 10:50:53
Rachel
Wow. Perfect, even for a macro novice. Thank you!
2017-11-29 16:08:53
Fernando
This was SO helpful.
Thanks a lot!
2017-11-20 10:11:41
BenC
Hello Allen
Thanks it's very helpful.
Is there a way to do execute a VBA macro to perform the same User Name modifications but for all the changes in Track Changes mode?
One of my team member performed several changes on a document and me too but I would like to have all of them appear under the same name.
I know we could have changed our username at first but it's too late now :/
Thanks!
2017-11-16 14:05:33
Juanita H.
You have NO IDEA how incredibly useful this will be for my work. Thank you!
2017-11-02 13:22:04
CAROLINA HERNANDEZ
YOU ROCK.. HOW CAN I CHANGE ALSO THE NAME OR THE REVIEWS?
2017-09-03 21:24:40
Simon
That is gold - exactly the code I was looking for. Thank you!!
2017-08-21 08:53:29
Michael Schuler
This is a great macro; I was under the impression that the user ID for comments couldn't be revised. Is there any similar way to change the ID that appears for tracked changes in a selection?
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